This Weeks Walks

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This Week's Walks - Archive

This is an archive of walks done by the Saturday Walker's Club. You should only need to use this page if the SWC website is down.

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Saturday, 14 April 2018

Saturday Walk Bluebell bliss from Sevenoaks to Oxted (or Westerham)

SWC Walk 20 and 68 Combo – Sevenoaks to Oxted (or
Westerham) T=SWC.20

Distance: 17.3
Miles or 27.8 km for those more metrically minded for route to Oxted

11.7 Miles or 18.8 km for the route to Westerham

Difficulty:6 out of 10

Train:Take the 9:10
AM Ramsgate train from London Charing
Cross (stopping at Waterloo East at 9:13 and London Bridge at 9:20),
arriving at Sevenoaks at 9:43.For those
who struggle in the morning, if you miss this train, there are loads more to
Sevenoaks, including one at 9:30 AM….so hop aboard and catch us at lunch or
before…..

Return trains from Oxted are at 19,
24 and 54 past the hour until 22:19 (for anyone traveling to north London –
interestingly you can change onto a Thameslink train at East Croydon). For
those finishing in Westerham, catch bus 246 at the stop in the Village Green to
Bromley South (buses are at 22 and 52 past the hour until 17:52; then, at 22
past the hour until 20:22) for frequent train service back to London. Buy a day return to Sevenoaks.

An old bluebell
favorite along the Greensand ridge with a new twist to continue into Oxted. The
walk leaves Sevenoaks via Knole Park and climbs up onto the Greensand Ridge
which should hopefully be awash with bluebells almost all the way to
Westerham.You can finish the walk in
Westerham by taking a bus to Bromley South. However, as a new twist, I though
it would be fun to continue on to Oxted by reversing the morning instructions
of SWC 63 which will bring you
through some more nice woodland with the potential for further botanical
delights.Whether you opt to finish in
Westerham or Oxted, you can find more information
about the walk and download the walk instructions for SWC 20 and for SWC 63.
If carrying on to Oxted, in addition to the instructions, you should also bring
a copy of the map printed from the OS tab on the SWC 63 introduction page to
aid in route finding.

The recommended lunch spot is the Cock Inn at Ide Hill (01732 750310), 8 miles into the walk. The Tudor Tea Rooms and the Grasshopper on the Green offer
afternoon refreshments before the final leg into Oxted where the Oxted Inn near the station awaits for a
final tipple.

6 comments:

You don't Christine, you meet at the destination station as you get off the train. I believe people going on the walk will typically be somewhere in the middle of the train. Further details are on the website though I'm not sure which section.

There is a brief guide for new members at the top of this page (under the "This week's walks" heading) which explains where to meet and includes a link ("guide for new members that explains all") to more detailed guidance for new members.

Sun at last, sun at last....w=hot-sun at that. Sleeves were rolled up, sun cream applied, broad brimmed hats left at home in the cupboard were thought of lovingly. Can one warm blue sky day (a bit of cloud in the afternoon) wipe away the memory of six grey winter months? Reader, yes it can. Such is the miracle of the human brain.

Fifteen got off the train, but others kept popping up like pixies in a fairy tale, so I am saying n=20 in all. Awash with bluebells the walk was definitely not - just a very few, with lots of stalks about to open - but there were lots of celandines and primroses, and some wood anemones and wood sorrel. Scarcely a hint of new foliage on the trees, however, which is unheard of for mid April. And where were the butterflies? Three brimstones and that was it. What are they waiting for? A man waving a red flag?

The sunny weather obviously having caught the Great British Public on the hop, the Cock Inn was not at all busy and we had a nice lunch outside. Then all was rush rush. Rush past Emmetts Garden with its tea shack, no time to stop. Rush on to Westerham, where I had barely parked my bum in a nice al fresco seat to have my tea, before the urgency of leaving was impressed upon me. On through the woods to Oxted, on which section the mud - present in places all day - went into overdrive. Not so much a walk as a rehearsal for a bog snorkelling contest. (Again, very untypical for mid April.) But lovely birdsong - layers of competing blackbirds, nuthatches, chaffinches - the sound of spring.

And ah, just think. There will be days and days and days like this..... Or will I wake up tomorrow and find it is still a snowy day in February and all this was a dream?

Just to add 10 walkers (about half) continued on into Oxted -- an advance party of 3 plus a further group of 7...

From the advance party -- one walker went straight for the train at Oxted (at around 5.30). Two others (having stopped for a pick-me-up at The Grasshopper at Westerham) finished the day with a couple of swift drinks at the Oxted Inn before catching the 18.24 to London.

After a short break in Westerham, the later group arrived in Oxted about 18:00 and went straight to the train station.